The invention relates to a cooling system for a galley for installation in a transportation means, in particular an aircraft, and to a method of operating such a cooling system. The invention relates further to a galley equipped with such a cooling system.
The cabin of a modern commercial aircraft is conventionally divided into different temperature zones, which are supplied with air-conditioning air, as required, by an air-conditioning system of the aircraft. Typical temperature zones of an aircraft cabin are, for example, a first-class region, a business class region and an economy class region. The operation of an air-conditioning unit of the aircraft air-conditioning system is conventionally controlled in dependence on the cooling requirement of the temperature zone having the highest cooling requirement, that is to say the air-conditioning unit provides cooled process air having a temperature which is sufficiently low to cool the temperature zone with the greatest heat load—which is generally the economy class region of the cabin—to a comfortable temperature. For example, operation of the air-conditioning unit is so controlled that it provides cooled process air having a temperature of 10-12° C.
In order to be able to set a comfortable temperature even in temperature zones with a low heat load, a corresponding amount of hot engine bleed air is mixed with the cooled process air provided by the air-conditioning unit, before the air is finally blown into the temperature zone. Alternatively, the cooled process air provided by the air-conditioning unit can be heated to the desired temperature by means of an electric heating device before it is supplied to a temperature zone. These situations are described, for example, in EP 1 701 884 B1 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,802,732 B2.
Work regions provided in the region of the doors of the aircraft cabin, in which the aircraft galleys are also arranged, are cabin regions with a particularly low heat load, because there is usually only a small number of people in those regions. Typical galleys, for example known from DE 10 2006 023 047 B4 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,114 B2, have a corpus having a base structure delimited by a worktop and overhead cabinets arranged above the worktop. Kitchen equipment such as, for example, coffee machines, water boilers, ovens, etc., as well as drinks and foodstuffs, are usually stored in the overhead cabinets of the galley. In the base structure of the galley, on the other hand, there is arranged a galley compartment, which is conventionally cooled, for accommodating movable trolleys which are loaded with items, such as, for example, drinks and foodstuffs, which are to be served to the passengers on board the aircraft.
Cooled galley regions, such as, for example, cooled galley compartments suitable for accommodating movable trolleys, give off cooling energy to the surroundings. In addition, cooling energy is also supplied to the work regions of an aircraft cabin via cold inside surfaces of the aircraft doors. The air-conditioning air supplied to the work regions of the aircraft cabin by the aircraft air-conditioning system must therefore conventionally be heated by means of corresponding heating devices, as are described, for example, in EP 1 701 884 B1 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,802,732 B2, to a temperature which is increased significantly as compared with the temperature of the cooled process air provided by the air-conditioning unit of the aircraft air-conditioning system in order to allow a comfortable ambient temperature to be established in the work regions of the aircraft cabin.
DE 10 2013 005 595 A1 describes an aircraft air-conditioning system having an air-conditioning unit which is configured to provide cooled process air, a process air line which is configured to guide cooled process air provided by the air-conditioning unit into a work region of an aircraft cabin, and a cooler which is configured to supply cooling energy to a device to be cooled that is provided in the work region of the aircraft cabin. A heat transfer arrangement serves to transfer waste heat generated by the cooler to the process air flowing through the process air line.